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'UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES G. LORRAIN, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR EXTINGULISHING FIRES-l SPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 501,519, dated July 18, 1893. Application iiled March 18, 1892. Serial No. 425,391. (No model.) Patented in England October 17, 1889, No. 16,416.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES GRIEVE LOR- RAIN, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at London, in the county of Middlesex, England, have invented a certain new and useful Method of andApparatus for Extinguishing Fires and for Preventing Them from Spreading, (for which I have obtained a patent in Great Britain, No. 16,416, dated October, 17, 1889,) of which the followingis a specication.

Aknown method of automatically operating the valves (Whether throttle-valves, sprinkler jets, tire doors, gas cocks or the like) used for the purpose of extinguishing fire and preventing it from spreading is by means of electromagnetic devices the said devices being in circuit with thermal contacts (or devices for closing the electric circuit when the temperature has risen to a given point) and a source or reservoir of electric energy. Another known method of operating such valves is by means of plugs or links of fusible metal the said plugs or links being melted by the flames directly or bythe heat radiated from the fire or by currents of heated air therefrom. Both of these known methods are open to certain objections. -devices are costly, liable to accidental derangement, unreliable in action and quite unsuited in the cases where the extinguishing fluids are supplied under any considerable pressure. The use of lthe above mentioned fusible plugs or links is open to the objection that they are liableto zcorrosion or to become coated by a iilm of dust or dirt or moisture in any one of which cases the plugs or links will no longer act at the temperature at which they were designed to act in the first place, but at a higher temperature; or in other words they will not act until the fire has made greater headway. My invention is designed to overcome these drawbacks.

In my invention I employ a source or reservoir of electrical energy and thermal contacts or thermostats but instead of using electromagnetic devices or fusible plugs or links as hereinbefore referred to I employ fusible or thermally-operated connections of conducting material which are melted or operated on the passage through them of the electric current and so release the valves.

The electromagnetic' The action of my invention will be readily seen from the accompanying sheet of diagrammatical drawings.

Figure 1 is a side and Fig. 2 a front elevation of a simple form of sprinkler valve.

A is a water pipe which is kept closed by the valve B articulated as shown at b and Ybearing a deiecting cup ,52.

O is the thermally-operated or fusible connection consisting of a wire of lead or fusible alloy attached at one extremity to a block of insulating material on the pipe and at the other extremity to a block of insulating material on the deiecting cup.

The thermostat or contact is symbolically represented by the battery D and the source or reservoir of electrical energy by the circle E. The action is as follows: The temperature having risen sufficiently high to close the circuit through the contactD the electric current will pass through the fusible connection O which forms part of the circuit as shown by the dotted lines. The current supplied by E having been so proportioned with respect to the gage and conductivity of C that the latter is fused when the circuit is closed O will give way and the pressure of the water in A will cause the valve B to assume the position shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 1 when the Water will issue from A, impinge upon b2 and be deflected in the usual Well known way.

In practice the current passed through the fusible connection should be of sufficient strength to-im'mediately fuse the connection O. Thus let us assume that to hold up the valve against the normal pressure of water employed requires a fusible Wire Whose fusing current is two ampres; then the current supplied should be say three ampres so as to insure immediate fusion.

I have shown my invention as applied to a simple form of sprinkler but from what has preceded any competent engineer will see how it can be applied to any of the ordinary forms of valves used for extinguishing fires and preventing them frcm spreading. It is onlyk necessary to bear in mind that if the valve to be operated be in, say, a water pipe or a bottle of liquid or compressed gaseous carbon dioxide it should be maintained closed by the fusible connection against the action of the pressure of the Water or other extinguishing agent or of a spring or Weight or the like tending to open it, and that if the valve to be operated be a fire door or a gas cock (in a supply pipe of illuminating or other combustible gas) it should be maintained open by the fusible connection against the action of a spring or Weight or the like tending to close it.

In some cases instead of employing a thermal contact or thermostat I substitute therefor an ordinary hand circuit closing device. In other cases I employ both a hand circuit closing device (or ordinary switch) and a thermal contact the two being coupled up in cir cuit in multiple arc.

In cases where the pressure of extinguishing fluid is considerable I sometimes find it convenient not to rely Wholly upon the strength of the fusible connection to keep the valve closed, but to employa spring or Weight or other equivalent to assist the said fusible connection in retaining the valve in its closed position against the pressure of the extinguishing iiuid.

I desire it to be understood that I do not limit myself to any particular types of circuit closing device, thermally operated or fusible connection, source or reservoir of electrical energy, or valve, as the essence of my invention lies, in so far as the method is concerned, in melting, expanding or igniting the valveconnection which is of conducting material by means of an electric current, and, in so-far as the apparatus is concerned, in the combination with the valve of afusible expansible or combustible connection a source or reservoir of electrical energy and a circuit-closing device for the purpose of extinguishing iire and for preventing it from spreading.

It will be seen that my invention overcomes the'objections hereinbefore mentioned as belonging to the methods cited. The fusible connection, unlike a magnet with a delicately suspended armature is not liable to get out of -order and is inexpensive. It does not matter how much the fusible connection may become dirty or corroded, for the melting heat coming from Within,as it Were,it is always fused when the circuit is closed.

It will be seen that I use the term valvein its wide and generic sense.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

1. The herein-described method of extinguishing fire and preventing it from spreading which consists in holdinga valve (Whether a throttle-valve, sprinkler-jet, fire-door, gascock or the like) in its normal position by a thermally-operated connection of conducting material, then heating said connection by passing an electric current through it to operate the same and release the valve.

2. The herein-described method of extint guishing re' and preventing it from spreading which consists in holding a Valve (Whether a throttle-valve, sprinkler-jet, dre-door, gascock or the like) in its normal position by a thermally-operated or fusible connection of conducting material, then heating said connection by passing an electric current through it from a circuit controlled by one or more thermal or hand contacts to operate or melt said connection and operate the valve.

3. In apparatus for extinguishing fire and preventing it from spreading, the combination of a valve (Whether a throttle-valve, sprinkler-jet, fire-door, gas-cock or the like) and a thermally-operated connection of conducting material for holding the same in its normal position, a source of electricity and a normally open electric circuit leading therefrom and including said valve connection, and a device for closing said circuit, whereby the Valve may be operated upon closing the circuit.

4. In apparatus for extinguishing tire and preventing it from spreading, the combination of a valve (Whether a throttle-valve, sprinkler-jet, iire-door, gas-cock or the like) and a fusible connection of conducting material for holding the valve in its normal position, a source of electricity and a normally open circuit leading therefrom and including said valve connection, and a device for closing said circuit, whereby upon closing the circuit the connection may be fused and the valve operated.

5. In apparatus for extinguishing fire and preventing it from spreading, the combination of a valve (whether a throttle-valve, sprinkler-jet, fire-door, gas-cock or the like) and a fusible connection of conducting material for holding the valve in its normal position, a source of electricity and a normally open circuit leading therefrom and including said Valve connection, and thermal or hand contacts for controlling said circuit.

JAMES G. LORRAIN.

Witnesses:

ERNEST J. ELKINGTON, KENNETH L. SKINNER.

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